ロシア人男性、中国リアリティー番組でようやく敗退　不機嫌キャラが人気

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国のボーイズバンドメンバー発掘のリアリティー番組に、嫌々ながら参加していたロシア人男性が２４日、ようやく敗退し、３か月の試練を終えた（写真は資料写真）
　オーディション番組「創造営２０２１」に参加していたロシア・ウラジオストク出身のウラジスラフ・イワノフさん（２７）は、これまで再三にわたり番組でオーディションから降りたいので自分に投票しないようファンに呼び掛けていた。
　標準中国語が流ちょうなイワノフさんはもともと、中国語の教師として番組に参加していた。しかし、容姿端麗なイワノフさんに目を付けたディレクターに、練習生として参加するよう誘われたという。
　イワノフさんは、この決断をすぐに後悔するようになったようだ。しかし、途中で棄権すると契約違反で多額の罰金を払わなければならないため、番組を降板することはできなかった。
　Ｌｅｌｕｓｈの芸名で参加していたイワノフさんのやる気のなさは、熱心な他の参加者に比べて際立つ、投げやりな歌やラップ、ダンスに表れていた。
　イワノフさんは自らのファンに向かって、バンドを結成することになっている１１人には選ばれたくないと訴え続けた。ある回には「僕を好きにならないで、無駄だよ」と語った。
　しかし、不機嫌キャラが人気となり、イワノフさんは約３か月にわたってオーディションを続ける羽目になった。
　２月半ばに始まった創造営２０２１のオーディションで参加者は、海南省にある島の寮に閉じ込められた。携帯電話は、ほとんどの期間、没収された。
　イワノフさんの典型的なスターとは異なるキャラが、中国人視聴者を引き付けたようだ。ファンらはイワノフさんのことを皮肉交じりに「最も哀れな賃金奴隷」と名付け、中国のミレニアル世代に人気の、日々の生活に自虐的な敗北主義的態度を示す「喪文化」の代表とまで呼んだ。
　イワノフさんは２４日の決勝で、必要な投票数を得ることができずようやく敗退することができた。２５日には中国版ツイッター「微博（ウェイボー）」に、「ようやく離れることができた」と投稿した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/04/28-13:41）

The reality TV ordeal of a Russian who joined a Chinese boy band show by accident -- and made it to the finals despite urging fans to vote him off -- has finally ended after nearly three months.
Vladislav Ivanov, a 27-year-old from Vladivostok, was kicked out of the Produce Camp 2021 on Saturday, after viewers ignored his pleas to leave and backed him all the way to the final.
Ivanov, who speaks fluent Mandarin, originally joined the show as a Chinese teacher.
But he said he was invited to sign on as a contestant after the directors noticed his good looks.
They asked if I'd like to try a new life, Ivanov said during the show.
He appeared to regret his decision almost immediately, but could not leave without breaching his contract.
His lack of enthusiasm played out in half-hearted singing, rapping and dancing alongside the other, more eager contestants.
Performing under the stage name Lelush, he urged the public to vote him out, saying he did not want to be among the 11 winners of the show, who are contractually obliged to form a boy band.
Don't love me, you'll get no results, he said on one episode.
But viewers took to his dour persona and kept him in the running for nearly three months.
Idol-training shows, a TV genre originating in Korea that puts hundreds of aspiring young performers through rigorous boot camps and audience votes, have become massively popular in China.
In this one, contestants were corralled into dorm rooms on a tropical island in China's Hainan province and had their phones confiscated for most of the season.
Anyone who wanted to break their contract and leave midway through the season, which began in mid-February, had to pay a steep fine.
While critics have questioned the transparency of the voting on idol shows, Ivanov appears to have struck a genuine chord as an anti-hero for Chinese audiences.
Fans, some earnest and some ironic, dubbed him the most miserable wage slave, and celebrated him as an icon of Sang culture, a popular concept among Chinese millennials referring to a defeatist attitude toward everyday life.
Don't let him quit, one viewer commented on a video of a dejected-looking Ivanov performing a Russian rap.
Sisters, vote for him! Let him 996! another fan commented, using the Chinese slang for the gruelling work schedule that afflicts many young staff, especially in digital startups.
The unlikely star made it to the final episode of the show on Saturday where he failed to earn enough votes to join the boy band.
I'm finally getting off work, a relieved Ivanov said Sunday on his Weibo account.